Coat Drive off to Brisk Start in Parole

Steve Anstett of Severna Park orchestrated the large donation operation under way at the Riva Road Farmer's Market in Parole with ease.

He's been coordinating the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of warm-weather clothing donations for years and said this year's effort is off to a great start.

You can drop off donations at the Farmer's Market from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. all this week through Friday. will then deliver the items to 26 shelters locally and in Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

Anstett said about 100 volunteers, mostly private school students, helped out on Tuesday. Friday will be the busiest, he said. That's when the most donations are expected, as well as the most volunteers when public school students will be off for the holidays.

Workers hustled Tuesday afternoon sorting items and packing boxes that were donated by to accommodate the wish lists from the various shelters. Those boxes, full of new or gently used items, were then loaded on to U-Haul trucks and will be delivered to the shelters on Christmas Eve.

The group also will make deliveries to the homeless living on the streets on Saturday evening.

Giving Back accepts donations on the four days prior to Christmas Eve, which typically ensures a weekend. Not so this year, Anstett said.

So to be sure they received enough donations, Giving Back for the first time set up satellite collection sites in Severna Park, the and on Kent Island.

Those items were delivered to the site Tuesday.

Anstett said if anyone is planning on buying any items to donate, they could always use women's hygiene products and baby items, such as diapers and formula. (For a complete list of needed items see the pdf attached to this article.)

And it's not just a quick drop-off, he said. The group has placed a focus on volunteerism for its youthful volunteer base, Anstett said.

They'll spend time with the people they meet in the shelters, serve some of them lunch, sing carols and even listen to stories from some of the shelter residents.

Bobby Keating, 21, from Severna Park and now a senior at Clemson University, has volunteered with the coat drive for nine years, starting as an eighth grader.

"There's a lot of love here," he said Tuesday afternoon. "Not only with the volunteers, but with the people we distribute to. The first year I did it, I did the night deliveries and that is one of the experiences that I will never forget."